Update: CFA Exams in India Back on Calendar

The court granted CFAI's appeal to stay an earlier order by an Indian regulatory body that would have suspended operation of the CFA program in one of the world's largest countries.

The suspension order had threatened plans of some 6,800 CFA candidates within India to sit for one of the three exams on June 3.

The dust-up also threatened to paint a black eye on the Virginia-based CFA Institute (CFAI) that administers the exams, at a time when enrollment is growing more rapidly outside the U.S., and particularly in Asia.

The CFAI, which has trademarked the CFA designation around the world, has conducted a long-running court battle in India and elsewhere to stop a local Indian organization that touts its own rival Chartered Financial Analyst designation. The order from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) appears to be an indirect consequence of that fight.

Posts on AnalystsForum, an online discussion board for CFA charterholders and candidates, express mixed views of whether the CFAI is to blame for the imbroglio and how effectively it's coping with the situation. For instance, a few comments took the institute to task for running afoul of technical education regulations in India, although the institute says it has complied all along.

Some posters worried that the dispute could hurt the value of a CFA designation. But others gloated that candidates and charter holders outside India would face less competition if a large number of potential new CFA holders were prevented from taking the exams until December or later.

The CFA Institute is offering a partial fee refund to candidates registered in India who decided to take the exam in another country, and full refunds to those who end up not taking the exam.

Will this impact U.S. CFAs? Post your comments below.